chip Photo:VCG

China Automotive Chip Industry Innovation Strategic Alliance has released its second alliance whitelist on Chinese automakers' use of domestic semiconductor chips, covering 10 categories of chips covering car body, chassis, engine system, intelligent driving and more.

Chinese automakers are currently accelerating the use of domestic chips. The whitelist covers more than 2,000 application scenarios, an increase of 34 percent compared with the first whitelist released in April, the alliance told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"The figures showcase the stable growth of the automotive electronics industry in the world's largest automobile market," Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

China's annual output of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) has already surpassed 10 million units now, making it the first country in the world to achieve this milestone. 

Driven by soaring demand for automotive chips, Chinese automakers are ramping up investment in the field. State broadcaster CCTV reported in November that more than 10 carmakers have entered the field of auto chip manufacturing through their own research and development.

"The use of domestically made automotive chips will ensure safety and a stable supply of auto chips. Moreover, the large-scale production of auto chips will help reduce the automakers' cost in procurement of chips," Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Beijing-based Information Consumption Alliance, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Between late 2020 and 2022, a shortage of chips disrupted the global auto industry, which forced many carmakers to adjust their production plans due to lack of semiconductors for functions like in-car infotainment and self-driving assistance.

"With Chinese automakers now striving to strengthen their competitiveness in product differentiation, they need to boost the development of domestic auto chips," Xiang said.

Different from smartphone chips that require very advanced chips using the 7-nm or 14-nm processes, automobile chips are much easier to be produced for their functions such as energy management and car body control, he said.

In January this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released a plan to accelerate the establishment of uniform standards guiding auto chip production, in a bid to accelerate the research and development of major chips amid increasing international competition.

Notably, the plan said that China will set up more than 30 auto-chip standards by 2025, covering reliability, electromagnetic compatibility, and operational and information security. It will meet the basic needs for the safe and reliable application of automotive chips, the MIIT said.

It is an evolving trend for the transformation of the automotive industry toward rising electrification and intelligence, and the importance of auto chips will be significantly elevated, providing great opportunities for Chinese auto chip sector development, Cui said.

A traditional fossil fuel-powered vehicle typically needs 500-600 chips. Along with the advancement of automobile electrification, network connectivity and intelligence, the number of chips needed by an NEV rises to about 1,000, while more than 2,000 chips are needed for highly intelligent NEVs, CCTV reported earlier.